Dili – UN prosecutors Tuesday urged East Timor's legal authorities to issue an international arrest warrant for Indonesia's former military supremo, saying he was responsible for war crimes committed by Indonesian forces in their former province in 1999.
General Wiranto, who commanded Indonesia's military during East Timor's violence-wracked secession in 1999, plans to run in Indonesia's presidential elections in July. He was indicted in February 2003 in East Timor in connection with the violence, but court officials have yet to issue an international warrant for his arrest. Wiranto – who resides in Indonesia – has denied the accusations against him, saying they are part of a conspiracy to undermine his presidential bid.
Indonesian authorities have also said they would not hand over Wiranto or other officers accused of East Timor war crimes, even if there were an international arrest warrant. But if such a warrant were issued, it would mean Wiranto could not travel to a third country without risking extradition.
Nicholas Koumjian, a top UN prosecutor at the Special Court for Serious Crimes in Dili, said in a statement Tuesday that Wiranto should be held responsible for the 1999 bloodshed.
"The evidence we have given to the court proves that [General] Wiranto failed in his responsibilities as the ultimate commander of all army and police forces in East Timor to prevent the commission of crimes against humanity and failed to punish the perpetrators," he said.
Nearly 2,000 people died and much of the territory was devastated by Indonesian troops and their militia proxies before and after a UN-organized independence referendum that ended a quarter-century of Indonesian military occupation. The court has been established to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violence.tics or not, but what is clear is that we registered this sympathetic campaign with the police," PDS Pontianak secretary John Situmorang was quoted by Antara as saying.
Meanwhile, Panwaslu central board member Topo Santoso said in Jakarta that all forms of gifts from political parties during the campaign period could be considered vote-buying method and violated Article 77 of Law No. 12/2003 on elections.
"Giving money, staple foods and other things, such as free health services can be considered money politics," said Topo, who is also a legal expert at University of Indonesia.
Another Panwaslu member, Didik Suprianto, doubted parties would refrain from money politics due to weak sanctions against the practice.
Money politics carries a maximum sentence of 12 months and a maximum fine of Rp 10 million (US$1,176).
The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) fears that affluent political parties will buy votes on the April 5 election day given that many of them violated regulations in the first week of the campaign period.
ICW deputy coordinator Lucky Djani disclosed that many parties had distributed food and provided free services to the people, activities that could be categorized as money politics.
"There is a correlation between affluent parties and violations of campaign rules as well as the practice of money politics," he said here on Friday.
ICW monitoring in six cities found money politics conducted by many parties, especially the big and wealthy ones.
Lucky said the parties gave money to all attending their campaigns. "In Jakarta, the fee is between Rp 35,000 to Rp 100,000 for each person attending a campaign," Lucky said.